BY ONYEDIKACHI S. ONOVO (Ph.D)
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The Abuja Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) accident of 26th August 2025 Came as a shock to Nigerians. The accident, which occurred at Asham Station at exactly 11:09 hrs, aborted the sweet journey of about 618 passengers on board *AK1 Train* with *Loco 2701* from Idu, Abuja to Rigasa Station in Kaduna State.
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The unfortunate accident posed as a very big challenge to the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. It tested their capacity, ingenuity, strength and resolve. Standing up to the threats of the accident and in the words of the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, “every challenge is an opportunity to prove a positive point”. A real positive point they wasted no time to prove.
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As soon as the news about the accident broke, NRC’s automated and other signaling systems quickly contacted all relevant security agencies. Before one could say ‘Jack Robinson’ the whole accident site and areas around it were saturated with the presence of virtually all the nation’s security agencies, providing both arial and ground protection for the passengers on board and the NRC vehicles.
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In the Nigerian Railway Corporation, safety is first. Consequently upon that, an alternative train was provided with the speed of light and all the passengers on board the accidented train were first and safely returned to base in Abuja. Those that sustained various degrees of injuries were taken to the hospital where they were treated and those with minor injuries, attended to and discharged. These rescue operations were personally coordinated by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Dr. Kayode Opeifa. This is highly commendable. He was everywhere, personally attending to the passengers. Some of the passengers who recounted their ordeal on that faithful day said that they felt very important, seeing the MD himself attending to them. This shows responsibility and leadership.
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Changing from the past practices in most organizations where blames are passed, Dr. Kayode Opeifa while addressing Nigerian on a National Television said and I quote. “I take full responsibility for the accident”. He apologized for the inconveniences and promised that knowing the importance of that route to Nigerians, everything humanly possible would be done to ensure that normal train services were restored and that a repeat of the accident is prevented.
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To the glory of God, no life was lost in the accident.
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Having ensured that all the passengers have been returned to safety, the NRC management mobilized both human and material resources. Again, the MD of the NRC, demonstrating leadership, practicality relocated his office from Lagos to Abuja. He was a regular visitor to the accident site, ensuring that whatever was needed to restore the line for the service of the good people of Nigeria was done. This his involvement no doubt, served as a serious motivation to the engineers and other support staff at site. A visit to the site showed the NRC senior engineers and other staff, in high spirit, working tirelessly, day and night, under the rain and sun to see that the accident site was well cleared and normal train services restored.
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The result of this unpresidented commitment to duty is that as of today, exactly 17 days after the catastrophic accident, all vehicles have been successfully evacuated to safely and relaying of the damaged tracks nearing completion. The expectation is that in a few days from now, normal train services would be restored.
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According to the reports from Ladi Bala of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, “the coast is becoming clearer and the hopes of getting the damaged rail lines fixed is heightened following the efforts of the NRC”. She confirmed the deployment of crane and other equipment which enabled the engineers to quickly clear the derailed coaches. The crane which the report described as a game changer, assisted in the quick recovery and movement of the accidented coaches to the NRC’s workshop for repairs.
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At the accident site, very senior engineers of the Corporation, Engr. Jerry Oche, Director Mechanical, Engr. Zainab Kazeem, Assitant Director Track and Engr. Edward Aina Oluwakorede, Technical Officer, were full of praises to the MD, for providing them with the necessary equipment which made their job easier.
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Speaking in the same news report, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, flanked by his his engineers and the NRC Abuja Liaison Officer, Mr. Paschal Nnoli, confirmed that by the end of this week, the track would have been completed and stability checks done. This he said is to make sure that everything would be ready and new customer relationship strategy immediately activated to restore confidence.
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All in all, as we eagerly await to hear the sound of the wheels on the track and the high blazing horn of the train on the Abuja- Kaduna route again, it is a resounding congratulations to Nigerians and commendations to the Nigerian Railway Corporation for living up to expectations.
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Onyedikachi S. Onovo (Ph.D)
District Public Relations Officer, Eastern District, Enugu.
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